Are you in the Sandwich Generation?
Stuck in the middle with you
Have you heard of the sandwich generation? If you’re in your 40s, 50s or 60s, you may be in it. It’s a term coined to describe the adults of this generation who are juggling (or sandwiched between) caring for their elderly parents and their own children and/or careers and lives. And whether you have a lot of caring responsibilities or not, the burden on people in this category is set to increase with the changes to aged care that will begin on 1 July.
In the current system, people receiving aged care at home receive a level of Care Management that is provided as part of their funding. Their provider will have Care Consultants who can check-in regularly with the older person and ask questions to assess if they are well and getting enough support. They have the expertise to detect signs of common conditions, ailments and risks for older people. They also know the prevention and treatment options available and can make recommendations for how the person’s aged care funding could be used to help them.
When Support at Home begins on 1 July, the government have imposed a 10% cap on Care Management across the board, which is pooled for all clients with a provider. The implication is that care management is a ‘nice-to-have’, rather than an essential service intrinsic to aged care.
Presently at Your Side, we assign a dedicated Care Consultant to each client and, if their needs are high or they have been unwell or are recovering from illness, that consultant calls to check in on them regularly. The relief and comfort this brings family members, particularly those in this so-called sandwich generation, cannot be overestimated. Karen Scott agrees that care management is the unquantifiable but essential ingredient to good aged care. She lives in Perth and her mother, Pauline, resided in Sydney where there were no family members living close enough to help out. For years Pauline received gardening, cleaning and meal delivery services through a Home Care Package with Your Side.
“My mum’s care consultant, Ann, was absolutely magic. Living so far away, it was great to know I could call Ann about anything, and she would get it sorted straight away, whether it was admin or extra medical attention. She always rang to follow up with mum and check in. She would tell me about things we didn’t even know about, things we were entitled to but wouldn’t have known. It gave me peace of mind.”
Care Consultants have professional knowledge of community, welfare and funding support for special needs in areas of mental health and dementia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons disease, incontinence and many other conditions. People who try to manage their own aged care needs – or those in the sandwich generation who are forced into the role of care manager by default - may find the older person misses out on tools or services that could make their lives much easier or more pleasant.
Many clients tell us that they don’t necessarily know what they need in terms of care and rely on the support of an experienced care manager to guide them through the options, not just at the beginning of receiving aged care services but as their health needs change.
Aged care providers who stand for the interests of the community are committed to a standard of quality in care management that could be compromised by the cap of 10%. We are speaking up to keep this conversation going, while there is still time for the impacts of these changes to be considered.
